He walked calmly into the darkness.

             He walked calmly into the darkness. Ready. Determined. A cold breeze made him shiver. Where did it come from? He would have turned around to look, but there was only darkness. It held everything and nothing. The wind was still. He lay down gazing up. Or was it up? Darkness, only darkness. He couldn’t tell, but he didn’t care.

    Is it possible for a single heartbeat to be the only sound in the universe? Nothing but the woosh of blood coursing through the veins, complimenting on steady tempo…

    Bum Bum.

        Bum Bum.

    He closed his eyes, but opened them again. Darkness, only darkness. The damp ground bled through his clothes.

    Must keep moving.

    He aimlessly dragged forward, touching nothing, seeing nothing. A soft sigh escaped from his lips. The sound rang in his ears.

    He walked forward.

    Did he have the darkness? Or did the darkness have him? He couldn’t tell, but he didn’t care.

    There was a peaceful stillness as he walked on. The corners of his lips stretched up into a smile and—wait. What was that?

    A sickly sweet, oddly sharp, burning scent filled his nostrils in an action that made his head spin. Where did it come from? What did the darkness hold? Who had the answers?

    His heart.

        Bum Bum.

            Go on.

                Bum Bum.

    He tentatively took his next steps, the smell getting stronger, setting his brain on fire. Soon it seemed as if the darkness was smothering him, the smell; a hot iron down the throat. So sweet, so sharp, so sickly, sickly sweet. He stopped and clawed at the air, attacking, fighting, resisting, hoping, hoping.

    But there was darkness, only darkness.

    His heart screamed.

        Bum Bum.

            Go on! Go on!

                Bum Bum.

    The man ran, then, his cries of frustration and pain stabbing through the darkness. Was it possible for the smell to get any stronger? It wrapped itself around him. Strong. Too strong.

    He fell to his knees and gasped for air.

    And then—just as suddenly as it came about—it was gone. And standing before him, the loudest, whitest light he’d ever seen.